Riot Season 2 World Championship Tournament Preview

Season two is finally coming to a close. For the past few months, teams from all over the world have battled each other to claim their ticket to the Season Two World Championships. The season has filtered these teams down to just twelve top teams from five different regions for the final struggle to put their mark on history as World Champions.

Here's how it will work, twelve teams will compete, four of those twelve teams (drawn via lottery from the five regional winners) will receive a bye and immediately enter the bracket stage. The remaining eight teams will be split into two groups and compete for the top two spots in each group. The top two teams in each group will move on to the bracket stage and battle it out in best of three matches for qualification into the grand finals. The top two finalists will clash in a best of five match on October 13th for the title of Season two Champion. The winner will receive a whopping $1,000,000 grand prize, as well as bragging rights as Champions.

This event is gearing up to be the most epic tournament yet. We have power houses such as Moscow Five (M5) and Team SoloMid (TSM), Veterans such as CLG Prime (Counter Logic Gaming Prime) and Dignitas, dark horses like Invictus Gaming and NaJin Sword, and the underdogs in the Saigon Jokers. This tournament has it all.

M5 is a dominating force with their near flawless track record, never leaving the podium in LAN events since their first exceptional appearance at IEM (Intel Extreme Masters) Kiev, setting new game metas with their oppressive game play. However, past dominance does not ensure future dominance, so it remains to be seen whether M5 will once again take control and run through the tournament, or if their road to the top will stop just shy of the crown.

TSM also has a power that cannot be denied. Time and time again, TSM has consistently proven their worth, establishing themselves as the number one team in North America. Being nearly undefeated (only loss to Azubu Blaze) in the NA circuit with their superb coordination and understanding of game mechanics place them squarely in the favorites box for this tournament.

CLG Prime, a team with one of the longest histories in League of Legends e-sports, have continuously secured their spot as one of the top North American teams. If the IPL 5 Qualifiers were any indication, it would seem that CLG Prime has adopted an extremely aggressive play style which we saw in their match against World Elite i-Rocks. However, WE. i-Rocks is a comparatively rookie team. We will have to see if this glimpse of a new play style will show itself in the World Championship and how it will fare against more seasoned teams. CLG Prime's willingness to change and better themselves could possibly be their shot to win.

World Championships 2012 Preview

Dignitas has a history that doesn't pale in comparison to CLG Prime. Even though the recent spotlight has fallen on the likes of TSM and M5, Dignitas has always shown their experience and maturity as a team in game, which they showed at PAX Prime, winning second place over CLG Prime. It would be foolhardy to ignore the threat Dignitas poses in their quest to be Champion.

SK Gaming, a european veteran , has had many switches and changes these past months, with many former members leaving in favor of other teams. With their new roster, they placed second at Regionals however, we will see if SK Gaming, led by Carlos "Ocelote" Rodríguez, will be able to ride that momentum in the tournament.

CLG.EU (Counter Logic Gaming. EU) quickly established themselves as a top European team. Their abilities can be best represented by their record against power house Moscow 5. CLG.EU is the only team to have beaten M5 with any sort of consistency. While M5 cast off CLG.EU's shadow by beating them at the European Challenger Circuit in Poland, it remains to be seen whether it was a fluke, or if M5 finally overcome the challenge set by their rivals CLG.EU.

While Asian teams have contended internationally in the past, the skills of these teams have been overshadowed by that of the North American and European teams. However, with ample time to better familiarize with the mechanics of the game, These Asian teams have started to emerge as true contenders on the global stage.

World Elite quickly made a name for themselves at IEM Guangzhou, placing first over CLG Prime and SK Gaming, first proving that Asian teams had the power to contend globally in League of Legends. They have securely established themselves as one of the top teams in Asia, but will that rank carry itself into the playoffs or will their skills fall off in the face of North American and European teams?

Invictus Gaming (iG) would prove to be a dark horse in this event. They showed themselves recently in the third North American Qualifiers for IPL 5 winning through all their games, beating CLG Prime and Mono.Ferus, only to lose to Meat Playground in the finals. Nonetheless, Invictus Gaming proved their worth by defeating top North American teams despite a ping disadvantage. It would seem that iG have qualified for events like IEM Kiev and IEM World Championship, however were unable to attend due to travel complications with their visas. It will be interesting to see if they can reproduce their success in the IPL5 qualifiers at the Season 2 Championships.

Azubu Frost, a quick rising team in Korea, the newest region to be added to the League of Legends community, has already made a name for themselves as one of the top Korean teams along with sister team Azubu Blaze (who gave TSM their only black mark in the NA circuit). We will see if Azubu Frost can exhibit the strength of Korean Gaming in League of Legends on the global stage despite their short history.

NaJin Sword shocked the world when they qualified for the Season 2 World Championships. Most assumed that the qualifying team would be Azubu Blaze alongside Azubu Frost. However, in an epic best of five match, NaJin Sword knocked Blaze out in the finals 3-2 becoming another dark horse in the playoffs. Led by top laner MakNoon, NaJin Sword have a record for borderline "insane" strategies with an extremely aggressive play style. Will their play style carry their team to victory? or will it be their downfall?

The Taipei Assassins (TPA) are a team that can contend with the top Asian teams, however, in the 2011 World Cyber Games (WCG), their only attendance in a global event, they were sent home early in the group stage. TPA have remained as a top team in Asia, contending with teams such as World Elite, and Singapore Sentinels. After winning their qualifier and earning a bye from the group stage, we will have to see if their strength as a consistent top Asian team is a tribute to an improvement to their skills, and how they fare against other globally recognized teams.

Another surprise coming to this event are the Saigon Jokers. They can be considered the underdogs of this tournament, however, their hard earned victory over the Singapore Sentinels after being sent to the losers bracket by them shows their persistence and dedication as contenders for the Championship. It will be pleasing to see an underdog story happen before my eyes should the Saigon Jokers be able to perform reoccurring upsets and take home the gold.

Just looking at the teams and their records, M5 and TSM are the clear favorites with a little more emphasis on M5. However, both these teams have NOT been proven to be unbeatable. It is up to the accumulated experience and familiarity with the game in each team to decide the victor. We have seen upsets before in NaJin Sword and Saigon Jokers; there is no reason for that same possibility to not exist. Of course the teams that earned byes have a bit of an advantage, however each team has their strengths which give them all an honest shot for the crown. I will thoroughly enjoy watching these twelve teams compete. Exhausting every advantage they have, whether it's newly formed strategies, already established play styles, or secretly learned champions on the road to become Season Two champions.